Amid British Prime Minister David Cameron’s visit to the United States this week, the White House issued a fact sheet that highlights the strong cooperation between the two countries in the area of cyber security and to ensure that networked systems help bolster economies and political freedoms worldwide.
“The United States and United Kingdom enjoy a model international partnership, as authorities including the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation and the UK Serious Organised Crime Agency work together to detect and prevent fraud, exploitation, and other types of on-line crime,” the fact sheet says.
The two countries increasingly are sharing incident data to help themselves and their allies “counter advanced persistent threats” and also doing joint exercises as part of testing the U.S. National Cyber Incident Response plans, the statement says. In 2012, more point planning will occur to “anticipate and prepare for future challenges in cyberspace,” it says.
The statement points to a number of areas where the two countries have made progress in their vision, pointing to growing international cooperation “around norms of behavior” to promote a “just and peaceful order” in the digital world. It also says they expect to make further progress this year and next on upcoming international conferences on cyber space in Hungary and South Korea, respectively.
To improve cyber security within their respective countries, both the United States and United Kingdom are instituting political frameworks that enhance the sharing of cyber threat information between the private sector and government while also safeguarding privacy, the statement says. In the United States competing alternatives of cyber security legislation have been introduced in the Senate, with one bill giving the Department of Homeland Security regulatory authorities to set minimum standards for the private sector to protect their networks and another measure rejecting regulation in favor of eliminating legal barriers to sharing of cyber threat data between the private and public sectors.
The statement also notes the importance of research and development into staying ahead of cyber threats, including “pooling our resources across borders.” It points to a three-nation agreement among the United States, United Kingdom and Australia aimed at funding R&D to improve cyber security through jointly requested research proposals and surveys.